Magic’s ‘Joe & Karen’ scrapped as part of budget cuts

Latest casualty of these troubled economic times is “The Joe & Karen Show,” Magic 105’s lively and topical morning program with Joe Caruso and Karen Clauss.

This follows layoffs by two local Clear Channel stations earlier in the week.

Caruso and Clauss were let go as a budgetary move by owner Cox radio. Caruso is a

San Antonio radio veteran, who worked on “Great Day SA,” before joining KSMG-FM two years ago. Clauss, however, was the bigger shocker as she’s been doing mornings on Magic for some 10 years or longer and has survived many a co-host cut from Sonny Melendrez to Tom Lazar to Jay Charles to Caruso.

“It was not ratings related,” said VP of programming for Cox Virgil Thompson. “We’re just having to adjust our business plan models in a turbulent time.”

He said the duo’s contracts weren’t renewed. Sliding into the 5:30-8:30 a.m. morning drive slot on Monday will be likable Katrina Curtiss of the afternoons, who’ll be playing a bit more music that her predecessors, though Thompson said she will interact some with listeners.

It’s sad to hear the imaginative Joe and Karen go; I imagine the news was a particularly hard blow to Karen as she’s a single mom.

Caruso’s wife, former KABB anchorwoman Cynthia Lee, said the silver lining in their situation is that Joe now will be freed up to help her with her booming Website (motah.us) and the accompanying children’s show she hopes to launch soon.